Nothing To Choose
by hwc
Summary: A sum is made up of many parts. Take one part away and the sum changes. The Strawhat Pirates are made up of nine members. Take one member away...
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Nothing To Choose – Part 1  
**Fandom:** One Piece  
**Pairing/Characters:** Strawhat Pirates  
**Genre/Category:** What if?, gen  
**Rated:** PG-16  
**Word count overall:** approximately 5,000 - 8,000 words  
**Word count for this part:** 385  
**Warnings:** Character death, violence  
**Spoilers/Setting:** Unspecific time after Thriller Bark, slight spoilers for Water 7  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own One Piece

**Summary:** A sum is made up of many parts. Take one part away and the sum changes. The Strawhat Pirates are made up of nine members. Take one member away...

**A/N:** A story told in ten parts. Feedback is very much adored and if anyone spots any mistakes, please let me know!

* * *

  
_It ends like this_

Sanji panted with the effort of heaving himself up. He glared at his smirking opponent and his goddamned overgrown metal _toothpicks_.

"Well, that's pretty disappointing. I expected more from the notorious Strawhat Pirates." Sanji gritted his teeth as the bastard gloated, trying to think of _something_ to take the bastard down.

But nothing worked, from Collier to Bas Côte to Concasse; the asshole either dodged or blocked his kicks with his blasted swords. Not even his Diable Jambo attacks were enough to break through his defense.

He coughed and cursed as he felt and tasted the blood filling his mouth. Gingerly, he touched his rips.

Chopper was going to throw three kind of fits.

His enemy sighed aggravatingly, "This is boring. I don't want to fight some shitty cook. When Captain said that he would fight Strawhat Luffy I thought I would get to take care of Roronoa Zoro. I'm the First Mate. I shouldn't have to settle for the cook."

_Roronoa Zoro. First Mate. _

Sanji froze.

_Nami and Chopper, crying._

His fists clenched.

_Dinner was ready, but Luffy was nowhere to be found. Stored in the fridge were Luffy's lunch as well as his mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks._

The rest of the crew picked at their food in silence.

He shook with rage, hard enough to feel his teeth clatter.

_Usopp, climbing down the ropes leading to the crow's nest, carrying a large sack and setting it down on the deck gently._

"Your shift isn't over yet, Usopp."

Opening the sack in response. "I couldn't. Not with that stuff up there."

Dumbbells and other equipment filled the sack. 

"Don't you dare talk about him!" His rage gave him new strength and he delivered a vicious series of kicks at his opponents shoulders and chest.

The bastard stumbled back, surprised by the force of the onslaught. But still, he managed to block every single kick, pissing Sanji off even more. How dare he, how _dare_ he? How dare that damn Marimo die? How dare-!

Sanji stopped. His breath left him and he looked down at the sword piercing his chest blankly. Dully, he felt a stabbing pain and heard his opponent laugh cruelly.

The air smelled of blood.

Then everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2

_It ends like this_

It's the newspaper that did it this time.

Zoro had just been lying on the deck, resting his eyes and letting the sun chase away the all too familiar feeling of regret and loss when his quietude was interrupted by a sound that had become all too familiar, too.

Dreading what he was to see he sat up, slowly, looking further down the deck to where Nami was clutching a piece of paper, the newspaper lying discarded on the floor next to her chair. Her shoulders were shaking and every now and then, choked sobs would escape her lips.

He felt helpless as he watched her cry, angry with himself for being no good at consoling her. He didn't know the right words and even if he did, he wouldn't be able to say them. Zoro wasn't good at dealing with other people's feelings. Even if they were nakama.

His feet felt too heavy as he made his way across the deck. He was selfishly relieved when he heard the others who were much better with words, rushing towards their navigator.

They all had grown accustomed to the sound of crying.

"Nami, what's wrong?" Usopp asked breathlessly, Chopper fretting at his side. The cook was still on the stairs as Brook made his way down from the crow's nest. Luffy and Franky were no where to be seen yet as Zoro joined the tight circle around Nami. He vaguely wished Luffy wouldn't come; their captain didn't need to see one of his nakama crying again. But he would come, Zoro knew, he would come like all the other times and in the end he would blame himself for something that wasn't his fault.

People die.

Such is the life on the Grand Line. Such is the life of a pirate.

No matter how much it hurts.

Nami shook her head and buried her face in Usopp's chest as their sniper gently took her into his arms. Chopper burst into tears too, clutching Nami's shirt. Zoro stood there, awkwardly, uncomfortably, and even angrier than before.

He gritted his teeth, feeling the pang in his chest at being unable to _do _anything when he felt Usopp's beseeching gaze. Out of his depth, his friend needed reassurance.

Zoro could do that much.

He returned the gaze, and nodded solemnly. _They need you. You can do it. You can ease their pain_. Usopp straightened in response, nodding back determinedly. He rubbed Nami's back gently, included Chopper in his hug and whispered soothing lies.

The cook came to a panting stop next to Zoro. "Nami-swan? What happened? _What happened_?"

Zoro glanced at him from the corner of his eye and shook his head. The cook glared at him, but subsided. Agitated, he lit one of his cigarettes, just as Brook joined them. Behind them, Franky and Luffy finally made their way towards them.

They stood, a solemn circle of grieve and pain, the sound of crying mingling with the sounds of the sea, and Zoro wondered if this dirge of tears and wind and waves was always supposed to accompany them. If all those months on the Grand Line they had just been lucky, gaining new nakama instead of losing old ones.

It took some time, but eventually, Nami's tears dried up, and when only the occasional sniffle could be heard from her, Luffy asked, "What happened, Nami?" His voice was flat, his eyes shadowed by his straw hat. Luffy didn't look any of them in the eyes; not anymore.

Nami stared at him, and silently held up the crumbled piece of paper she had clutched in her hand the whole time. Luffy took it and smoothed it out. Anger etched his features as he looked at it, his hands curling to fists and crumbling the paper even more. Sanji, who looked over Luffy's shoulder, exploded.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? What is this, some kind of sick joke?"

Luffy didn't react, not even when Franky gently extracted the paper from his hands. The paper wandered from one crew member to the next this way, from Franky whose features hardened, to Brook who couldn't show any feelings save a shocked gasp, to Usopp who nearly lost his fight with the tears as he looked at the paper, to Chopper who took one look at it and burst into tears again, and, finally, to Zoro, who stared at it blankly.

"I don't understand!" sobbed Chopper. "How could they? How-? Why-? I don't understand!"

"They don't know," Zoro said, glad to be _finally_ useful, even though he wanted to_ destroy_. Rage screamed in his veins, god, how he wanted to kill those bastards of the World Government. "They must think she left the crew. That's why they raised it. As long as she was with us she was a more or less predictable threat. But on her own...," Zoro trailed off as his words upset Chopper even more.

"A loose cannon," Franky said, "that's what they think."

Zoro nodded as Sanji let loose a string of curses, stabbing out his cigarette and lighting up a new one immediately. Zoro looked at Luffy. His captain's face was shadowed by his straw hat again, but the tension in his shoulders and his tightly clenched fists belied his state of mind.

His gaze fell on the paper in his hands. Robin stared back at him over her shoulder. 'Nico Robin,' it read, 'Bounty 100,000,000 Beli' And under her picture, 'Dead or Alive'

_Dead or Alive_

People die.


	3. Chapter 3

_It ends like this_

Black spots danced in her vision as Nami fought against unconsciousness. After the first wave of adrenalin had subsided hunger had made her feel weak once more.

She felt faint, even as she brought the Perfect Clima-Tact up to block an attacking marine. She barely managed to strike back, using Thunderbolt Tempo to knock him and some other enemies in the vicinity out.

"Robin! Watch out!"

Nami frantically looked for Robin at Usopp's shout, turning in time to see her friend get overpowered by a couple of marines. Hands started sprouting from their backs, tugging at them and trying to dislodge their holds on Robin, but the limbs were only as strong as their caster and Robin was as hungry and weak as the rest of them.

Nami tried to fight her way across the deck, but was still too far away to be of any help when Brook swooped in, driving Robin's captors off. He and Franky were about the only ones still fighting at full strength, unaffected by the lack of food that impaired herself and the others.

Except Zoro, Nami amended, as Zoro sent dozens of marines flying with a few strikes of his swords. But even Zoro was panting heavily, his reactions slower than usual.

A loud, grumbling sound cut through the uproar of battle and everyone looked over at Luffy, whose arm stretched and retracted harmlessly. He swayed on his feet.

"I'm hungry... I'm so hungry! Sanji!"

Nami bit her lip as her eyes started to burn. Her face felt hot as she remembered... As she remembered... _that_. Him.

_Sanji_.

If Sanji had still been alive, none of this would have happened. Sanji wouldn't have bought too little food for too much money. Sanji wouldn't have wasted food on feasts shortly after setting sail. Sanji wouldn't have let food spoil by neglecting to conserve it properly.

Had Sanji been alive food wouldn't have gotten scarce in the middle of the Grand Line, with no island or ship in sight anywhere, and had Sanji been alive, none of them would have grown weak with hunger.

Had Sanji been alive, three Marine ships wouldn't have been enough to defeat the Strawhat Pirates.

Hands grasped at her and she fought blindly, thrusting her staff up and down and hoping to hit something. This close she couldn't use Thunderbolt Tempo or any other of her attacks, not without injuring herself in the process.

Dimly, she heard someone shout "Let her go!" and the number of attackers receded some, but she couldn't use the brief respite as someone had managed to rip the Perfect Clima-Tact from her hands. She was roughly shoved on her knees, a sword at her neck and a pistol at her back, holding her immobile. Through the tears in her eyes she saw Robin get overwhelmed once more, and a squadron of marines attacking Zoro at once.

Grunting and cursing, the sounds of swords clashing and pistols shooting and the smell of gunpowder filled the air, and before she could even think of something to free herself, Usopp's bleeding and unconscious form was tossed carelessly next to her. She swayed in his direction, wanting to crawl over to her friend and reassure herself that he wasn't dead, not like Sanji, god, please don't let him be dead like Sanji – but her captor's held her back by her hair, a shallow cut on her throat warning her not to move again.

They roughly tugged at her arms and tied them behind her back, but Nami barely noticed it, staring at Usopp and silently begging him to wake up. Through the haze of tears she could make out his form barely, but she couldn't be sure whether or not he still breathed, and _please_, just wake up-!

A cheer went up among the marines, and Nami listened to the triumphant yells with horror:

"We got him! We got Strawhat Luffy!"


	4. Chapter 4

_It ends like this_

Another strong gust of wind and the main sail ballooned, the rain-drenched rope slipping through Sanji's fingers before he could secure the sail. Lightning illuminated the scene, and from the deck Robin watched the scene with growing desperation.

The storm tore at the sail, deforming their cheerful jolly roger into a grotesque, mocking mask, causing their ship to turn and careen every which way, toying with all their lives.

Robin sent a flurry of arms to catch the elusive rope again, handing it to Sanji just as another wave hit the ship, and the Sunny tilted dangerously, forcing Robin to summon more limps to keep her steady. Thunder roared and she dimly heard someone shouting, but it didn't matter. Words were lost in the mad howling of the wind and the vicious booming of the sea.

When the ship returned to a more upright position and Sanji and Zoro once more made to secure the main sail, Robin tried to think of what Nami would have done.

Her thoughts derailed as old feelings of guilt and self-hatred surfaced; as the one most experienced with travelling on the Grand Line it had been her responsibility to navigate their ship after Nami's death. Months of safe sailing with hardly any turbulences, and she had fooled herself into thinking that she, with her years of experience and knowledge, could actually hold a candle to Nami's instincts and genius.

The Grand Line had been swift to punish her for her arrogance.

Robin shook her head to dispel the futile thoughts; she had to think of something and she had to do it _quick_. Her mind raced, what would Nami have done?

Another wave hit the side of the Sunny again, causing the ship to tilt once more. Robin grabbed the rail, the summoned arms that held her secure aching with the effort.

A panicked shout and Robin turned, narrowing her eyes against the harsh rain stinging her face. A flash of lightning; horror gripped her as she saw Chopper slipping down the still tilted deck, his feet not finding footing on the wet grass. A strangled cry escaped her lips as Chopper went overboard and, instinctively, she tried to move towards her friend, causing her to trip over her own hands.

Another shout and the hands holding her vanished just as Sanji jumped into the sea to save their friend, but now Zoro was holding onto the sail all by himself and not even the swordsman's inhuman strength could keep it under control as the wind got hold of it once more. The wind filled the sail, rocking the ship to the opposite direction, and before she could take a hold of the rail she slipped on the wet deck. She hit her head on the rail, losing her orientation.

She felt herself sliding up and down the deck as the ship careened violently, but she couldn't find purchase to stop her momentum, and then her breath was knocked out of her as she hit something with her back, hard, and then there was the sensation of flying...

Her eyes widened with horror as she fell overboard, the cries of her nakama mingling with the roar of the storm. An arm flew in her direction and she tried to grasp it, but the wind knocked it off course. Her ability, she thought numbly as she lost sight of the ship's deck, she had to use her ability, but then the ship tilted to the other side and then-

Then she was surrounded by icy coldness.


	5. Chapter 5

_It ends like this_

Usopp stomped the stairs down angrily. He was a _sniper_, not a plumber. And besides, he, the Great Captain Usopp, once showered with nothing but the icy water from the coldest parts of the North Blue for a whole year as an exercise to strengthen his body and mind; surely Nami could last _one day_ with a lukewarm bath.

He sighed as he reached bottom of the stairs, anger draining quickly as understanding took in. He shook his head in fond exasperation. Of course he couldn't expect his crew mates to show the same mental resolve as the Great Captain Usopp, but still. Surely Nami had to realise that he had far more important things to do than fix her plumbing?

Deciding to forgive their navigator for her faux pas Usopp entered the room at the heart of the Thousand Sunny; the machine room. He didn't even pause to let his eyes adjust to the dimly lit room – why should he, he was, after all, the world's greatest sniper; his eyes were as sharp as a hawk's and in the dark not even an owl could hold a candle to him! – making his way to the workbench by memory alone.

When he reached the workbench he let his gaze slide over the lovingly cared for tools. He cocked his head; he could have sworn he left the manual on the bench. Looking for it he turned-

And froze.

Leaning against the wall behind him Robin nodded in greeting, her thumbs caressing the cover of the manual in her hands.

"Quite an interesting read," she remarked.

Usopp smiled weakly.

"Yeah."

"Very thorough, though that was probably to be expected. Franky didn't want to leave anything to chance, did he?"

Usopp forced a chuckle out. "That's just the last volume. You should see the first two, they are like twice as thick! I nearly threw out my back picking one of them up! Oh, did you hear that? I heard that, sounded a lot like Sanji, I think dinner is ready, we should go up! Why don't you go first?" He looked at her hopefully, trying to look as though he wasn't desperately trying to get rid of her.

Robin was too perceptive for Usopp's likening.

"Did you know that most people hardly recognize it if one of the ship's ribs is damaged? Unless one of them breaks, of course," Robin asked, completely ignoring everything Usopp had just said. He swallowed thickly, heart in his throat. "And that's even though they are such an integral part of the ship." Usopp looked away, guilt gnawing at his conscience.

His gaze fell on the workbench and the tools on top of it. _Franky's_ workbench and _Franky's_ tools, but Franky didn't need them anymore, did he? Usopp frowned; did that mean it was his workbench and his tools now? That couldn't be right. Usopp wasn't a shipwright.

"Not that anyone could blame them," Robin continued, calmly, "it's not easy to spot, and it takes a seasoned shipwright to repair such damage." She let the manual fall open in her hands, and Usopp recognized the well-thumped pages. "It's hardly fair, though, is it? Imagine if something like this happened on the Grand Line, to a ship without shipwright. Indeed, the crew could consider themselves lucky if the ship made it to the next island."

Usopp laughed loudly, and heartily, striking a pose by framing his chin with his hand and nodding wisely. Nails digging into his palm as his hand curled into a fist. "I understand, Robin, and I, the Great Captain Usopp, realise how much voicing this deep-rooted fear of your past must have cost you, but obviously you are forgetting one thing: These ships had the misfortune of sailing without the Great Captain Usopp on board. No problem is too hard for my certifiably genius to solve it. But I understand the reasons for your fears, so please, don't worry for I forgive you your lapse in faith!"

"How kind of you," Robin replied, still smiling politely at him, but the look in her eyes made him break out into a cold sweat. Robin was _far_ too perceptive.

Usopp had to look away again, and he steeled himself. The crew, his nakama, they had depended on him to keep the ship running, they had trusted him to take good care of the Sunny. Franky had entrusted his dream ship to him.

But Usopp wasn't a shipwright, and now it was the Going Merry all over again. But what use would telling the others be? There was nothing to be done except praying, and Usopp did enough of that for all of them. They would worry and fret, but all their lives were in the hands of Fate now, and there wasn't anything anyone of them could do about it.

No, it would be better if none of them knew the truth. The Sunny should remember the laughter and mirth of her nakama, and not their grieving when she wasn't even gone yet.

But Robin was perceptive, and her experience and knowledge let her figure out things faster than her crew mates. But even Robin, for all her wisdom, must have held on to a tiny seed of hope.

So he squared his shoulders, and put on his best act to date. "There is nothing wrong with the ship, Robin," he told her seriously, looking her squarely in the eye, "The Sunny will make it to the next island, and the island beyond. This ship will be the ship of the next Pirate King, mark my words!"

He watched Robin, saw the tiny flicker of uncertainty in her gaze, but his mask was firm, and in the end Robin's own hope won out; relief relaxed the tiny lines of tension around her eyes, her smile became more natural, more real.

He wasn't a plumber, or a shipwright.

Usopp was a liar.


	6. Chapter 6

_It ends like this_

Robin smiled at Usopp as he passed by her deckchair. He gave her a sad, pained smile in return, but didn't pause to chat as he would have before, even though she was obviously idling, the book in her lap closed. Instead, the smile on his lips died, chased away by a pained expression. He continued on his way, his shoulders slumped, barely acknowledging it when he bumped into Franky on his way across the deck.

Robin let the smile on her lips slip away, gently stroking the spine of her book.

Nine days, and the silence still covered the ship like a blanket of grieve. She had expected that, even though she suspected all – with the possible exception of Luffy – had had to suffer through the death of a loved one, but the unexpected loss of their nakama had shaken them all, and especially her younger crew mates had trouble coping.

Or maybe it was less the unexpected, and more the never thought of as possible death of their nakama that left her friends reeling.

But Robin had spend years on the Grand Line, and she new of the unpredictably of the Devil Fruits. She didn't need scientific texts telling her of unanticipated drawbacks, of weaknesses that condemned the wielders of even the most obscure and powerful abilities to death. No, she thought, gazing at the book in her lap in contemplation, she had witnessed the tragedies caused by the Devil Fruits first-hand.

None, not even those that seemed to promise eternal life protected from death forever, and all it took was to find that one, fatal drawback to destroy a life.

And in this case, Robin thought, leaning back in her chair and letting the sun fight the all too familiar chill of grieve, a fatal injury inflicted underneath the crushing weight of the sea; an injury that would have been inconsequential on land, was this one drawback, that fatal weakness. A broken neck, crushed bones; injuries usually easily fixed had taken the life of their nakama.

Bones, Robin thought, gazing at the blue sky and listening to the soft rush of the waves, clearly audible over the silence on deck, broke all too easily.


	7. Chapter 7

_It ends like this_

"May I see your panties?"

Brook waited, soaking the cloth in the basin of ice water beside the bed before gently returning it to its place on Nami's forehead.

"Of course not!", he laughed, "what a stupid question! I shall never ask again. Cross my heart and hope to die! Though I'm already dead!"

Harsh breathing answered him, so Brook stood and, with a last look at the woman, left the women's quarter. Outside he stretched, listening to the sound of the waves, the wind, Franky's cough- Silly him, how could he be able hear? He had no ears to hear with, therefore he couldn't hear.

He walked down the deck, and as he did so he was thankful that he couldn't hear, couldn't hear Franky's painful coughs. But then Franky came into view, his face pale and his eyes blood-shot, and how ridiculous would it be for a skeleton to see? He had no eyes, therefore he could not see.

"How-" Franky started, but a coughing fit interrupted him. Brook contemplated not-hearing him. "How's Nami?"

Franky looked at him, and the blood in his veins – though he had none – froze as Brook finally admitted to himself that Franky's cybernetic parts would not protect him from the illness that had befallen the rest of their nakama any longer.

"Her condition has not changed," he said, and wished that he could not have seen her fighting a losing battle against her own body, that he could not have heard Franky's harsh coughing, the first sign that he, too, had fallen prey to this illness, that he could not have smelled the stench of death brought forth by this disease that had invaded their once lively ship.

"Yeah, neither have theirs," Franky said with a nod towards the men's quarters, and as he turned away to cough into his arm, both pretended not to have seen the red stains that appeared on his shirt sleeve. "I'm gonna make some more soup," he rasped, and Brook nodded.

When Franky was out of sight, Brook looked up to their pirate flag, the cheerful jolly roger dancing in the wind, and he decided that a song was in order. Everything was better with music. So he got his violin, and stood before the guardrail, letting the tiny drops of water splash his face whenever the endless waves hit the side of the Sunny.

So many songs to choose from, he thought, so many songs he had played and sung with his new nakama. Bink's Sake, he decided, the first song they had ever sung together, and he remembered a tiny, cheerful reindeer that could have saved his nakama, had he not been taken from them an eternity ago. He played.

And played.

And as he felt the wetness on his cheeks he realised that no matter what song he began to play, he would always finish in a dirge.


	8. Chapter 8

_It ends like this_

Nothing disturbed the cursed silence.

No singing, no dancing, no tales of ridiculously grand adventures that made Chopper's eyes bulge and sparkle with awe, and gave Luffy stupid ideas.

No more lies.

Ever since that island, ever since Usopp-, since Usopp-

Nami stood abruptly, upsetting the inkwell and causing it to spill dark liquid all over the map she had been staring at. She watched dispassionately as the map soaked, tears filling her eyes without her bidding.

Sudden anger overtook her, and she took the map and ripped it to pieces, furious, not caring about the ink splattering her clothes, her hair and face, her lips, and why, _why_ did it have to be so _silent_?

The rage dissipated as soon as it came, taking all her energy with it, and she sagged, spent. She buried her face in her arms on top of the table, smelling the familiar scent of ink - tasting it on her lips -, and wishing for the sound of laughter.

She cried.

She cried for Usopp, for her hurting nakama, but most of all, she cried for herself, heavy sobs that nearly choked her, but she couldn't stop; please, somebody make it all _stop_...!

Arms wrapped around her, and the smell of tobacco engulfed her like a security blanket. She let herself be pulled against his strong chest.

Dimly, she thought of how at least the black ink wouldn't show against his dark waistcoat, and the thought soothed her as much as his reassuring warmth.

They sat in silence, the only sounds her harsh breathing and occasional sniffle, and Sanji's steady exhaling of smoke.

She listened to his breathing, hearing and feeling it in the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest. It calmed her, this safe haven, his strong arms protecting her from a world where her beloved nakama could die without a moment's notice.

"Dinner is served," Sanji said softly, and she nodded in understanding. He didn't hurry her when she slowly left his embrace and stood, on shaky knees, avoiding his eyes. He stood too and followed her when she made her way to the kitchen, leaving her room to breathe but close enough to lend her strength with his presence by her side.

But most of all, he didn't pressure her, or offer her platitudes she wouldn't accept, and for this she was grateful. She knew loss, she knew the pain of losing a beloved person. She would deal, and she would become stronger for it.

They entered the kitchen, and the rest of the crew was already seated, the silence in the room oppressive.

She would deal, and she would become stronger for it.

If the silent truth didn't suffocate her first.


	9. Chapter 9

**Title:** Nothing to Choose - Part 9  
**Fandom:** One Piece  
**Pairing/Characters:** Strawhats, Vivi, Nojiko, Tashigi, others, OCs  
**Genre/Category:** What if?, gen  
**Rated:** PG-13  
**Word count:** ~5890  
**Warnings:** Character deaths, self-destructive behaviour  
**Spoilers/Setting:** Spoilers up to the end of Thriller Bark, set sometime between TB and SA  
**Disclaimer:**One Piece does not belong to me.

**Summary:**A sum is made up of many parts. Take one part away and the sum changes. The Strawhat Pirates are made up of nine members. Take one member away...

**A/N:** Finally, the ninth part. And it only took me over a year, too. Many thanks goes to **_threewalls _**over on LJ, who did a great beta job even though I took my sweet time answering my mails. Thank you! 3 Any remaining mistakes are mine. Feedback is more than just welcome, especially as this was undoubtly the hardest part to write.

In other news, FFN hates be, but that's okay because _**I hate it back**._ Screw with my formatting again, you site of the devil, and I swear I'll go postal.

* * *

_It ends like this_

"Captain?"

Grogner looked up from his inventory list to see one of the new workers standing hesitantly in the doorway.

"What do you want?"

"There's, uh, there's this guy, he, uh, he's asking if he could board the ship."

"Board?" Grogner repeated with a glance at the list on his desk. There were already enough hands on the ship, but a lot of them were new and might buckle under the strain of working on the Grand Line. Another guy probably wouldn't go amiss. "What work's he willing to do?"

"I, I don't think he's looking for work." The hand looked slightly alarmed as Grogner glared at him, growling low in his throat. "It's all a bit weird." Grogner pushed past the young man. "Sir."

The captain squinted a bit as the harsh sunlight hurt his eyes after the dimness in his office. "This isn't a leisure trip," he grunted as he walked across the deck, the hand hurrying to catch up with his longer stride. "He either works or he doesn't, end of story." He glared pointedly at a couple of slackers and watched with satisfaction as they nearly fell over each other in their haste to get back to securing the cargo. "Why, what's weird with him?" The Grand Line was his home; he'd heard and seen some pretty weird crap, especially when one of those thrice damned fruits was involved. He'd seen what those had done to decent people.

"He's dead."

Grogner stopped abruptly, his subordinate running smack into him. He glared over his shoulder. "Dead?"

The hand gulped nervously, "Kinda. I mean, not really, he's talking and stuff, it's just... He's a skeleton." He shrank as Grogner continued to glare at him. "A walking and talking skeleton. Sir," he added quietly, voice high.

"A skeleton."

"Yes, sir." Grogner growled again, and the boy rushed on, "He wants to be taken to as close as the Red Line as possible. I told him we only go as far as Whiskey Peak, but that seems to be okay..." He trailed of as he noticed that his captain wasn't listening anymore.

A skeleton.

Of all the godless things Grogner had seen on this godforsaken ocean... "We're not taking a goddamn skeleton with us! You have any idea how much bad luck it brings to take the dead on a journey? God knows what disasters the walking dead will bring to us!"

"That's what he said, too," the hand offered quietly, "that death seems to follow him. Then he made some kind of joke, I think, and started laughing. As I said, sir, it's all very weird."

-0-

_Brook looked back at the Thousand Sunny for the last time. The ship bathed in the silvery moonlight, its masts rising towards the glistering stars as it throned majestically on a bed of pale sand and shining waves._

_The scene was breathtaking and Brook itched to do it justice with a song, with a ballad as beautiful and sad as the sight before him, and the nakama he had left behind._

_'Forcing the worldly remains of the dead to journey is bad luck, you know. It invites Death to come and take another life.'_

_The echo of Usopp's words, unthinkingly uttered in a weak moment when he thought himself unobserved, regretted the moment they had been spoken (but oh! So very true!) curbed the urge._

_Shouldn't Brook have known better? He, who had sailed aimlessly for years in the endless fog of the Florian Triangle with nothing but the remains of his dead nakama? He, the only one who could never die? Maybe that was the real curse of the Yomi Yomi no Mi; to bring death to those the eater held dear._

_As Brook stood there, on this hill overseeing the shore the Sunny had anchored off, he was glad that he had no eyes with which to see. Really, it was for the best. After all, this way he didn't have to see how painful it had been for his grieving nakama to look at the walking dead (or look past him, he should say. But not at him, and certainly never looking him in the eyes.)_

_Who would want to see the living dead when they were still mourning the death of a beloved friend?_

_But they wouldn't have to, not anymore. If he still had a heart he was sure it would beat wildly and painfully, nearly bursting from his breast, but as it was there was only an empty hole in his chest as he turned around for the last time and walked away._

_"Farewell, my friends. I will remember you for as long as I live – though I'm already dead!"_

-0-0-0-

Houdu stepped into the dark room quietly, the cloth of her qipao rustling softly. She frowned, unhappy with the slight noise; it had taken her years to master the ability of moving soundlessly. But a battle wound she received months ago impaired her movements, and she was still wasn't able to fully compensate for her leg's new weakness. She narrowed her eyes in annoyance; less than perfect displeased her.

She walked further into the quiet room, the rustling of her dress louder to her than the sound of the waves hitting the ship, the creaking of wood, the light snoring of the room's occupant. She came to a stop beside a small bundle of blankets on the ground, its rhythmic rising in time with the snores proof that their newest member had once again managed to fall off the grates that served as his bed without waking from his slumber.

Houdu felt the urge to roll her eyes but she curbed it, blaming her captain for the lapse in composure even as the corner of her mouth quirked involuntarily. Three years of serving under her captain and all her training seemed to have gone to waste. Her mentors would be scandalised.

"Chopper," Houdu said softly, kneeling next to the bundle and pushing the covers out of the way to free the young pirate from the tangle of blankets. "Chopper," she said again, gripping his tiny shoulder and shaking it, "you need to get up. Now."

She tightened her grip on his shoulder, and with a yelp of pain the little reindeer started awake, transforming into his human shape by instinct. Houdu didn't let go, not even when Chopper turned his shoulder away, trying to dislodge her hand. She rose from her kneeling position, using her grip to haul him up, keeping him upright when the sudden movement made him stumble. Only when his shining eyes found hers did she let go, and he rubbed his smarting shoulder with a wince.

"M-Ms. Houdu?"

"You have work to do."

"Already? But-but I've only just gone to bed! How late is it?"

"Early," Houdu said, turning around and exiting the small room. She ignored his whining, making her way up the stairs that led to the deck. Outside the air was fresh and cold, the clear night sky highlighted by thousands of stars. If Houdu had been alone, or maybe in the presence of her captain, she might have stopped to admire the lovely sight, but as it was it was Chopper's increasing moaning that made her halt. Instead of admiring the star-filled sky she turned around and fixed her charge with a long stare.

Chopper gulped, but quieted down. When Houdu was sure that she had his full attention she spoke, "Why are you here, Chopper?"

He blinked at her, uncertain, but at her steady gaze he answered hesitantly, "To grow up. To become a real man who doesn't need anyone!" A petulant tone entered his voice towards the end and Houdu suppressed an annoyed sigh.

She had no use for childish displays such as these and yet, wasn't this exactly why her captain entrusted Chopper to her care? Grow up indeed, she thought, and for a brief moment she remembered when her captain had called for her, introduced her to the tiny, desperate, stubborn mess Chopper had been at the time.

'This is our newest crew member, Chopper,' her captain had said, with the infuriating smile that tested even Houdu's patience, 'he was a member of the Strawhats. Chopper, this is Houdu, my impeccable first mate.' A wink at Houdu, who had felt both trepidation and annoyance rising. 'She'll make sure that your dream comes true.'

Chopper had looked at Houdu with shining eyes back then, but she had ignored him in favour of pinning her captain with a blank stare. 'And what is it that Chopper dreams of, Captain?'

A playful laugh, the kind that always spelled trouble for Houdu. Her captain's eyes had sparkled with mirth. 'Chopper here wants to grow up and become a man. You will help him, won't you Houdu?'

Now Houdu was stuck with the uniquely frustrating task of making sure that a young reindeer grew up and became a man, and for a fleeting moment she wondered why he couldn't have done that on the Strawhats' ship.

-0-

_Chopper sniffled as he ran down the stairs, wiping the tears away from his eyes with his hooves._

_Stupid Sanji, saying stupid things._

_His eyes lit up as he saw Robin leaning against the railing, staring at the sea. With a great sob he launched himself at her, seeking her soothing embrace. He loved all his nakama (even stupid Sanji who had said mean things to Chopper), but Robin understood him best. Robin never got angry, or impatient with him, she was always smiling and kind._

_Like Luffy had been._

_A fresh batch of tears flowed from his eyes and he sobbed into Robin's lap, but the expected comfort of her arms didn't come. His tears dried up, confusion momentarily pushing his hurt feelings aside as he stared up at Robin. Her face was averted, tense as she stared at something to his right._

_"R-Robin?" he stammered._

_Robin relaxed slightly, but still she didn't look at him. When she spoke, she sounded tired. "Perhaps you should seek out someone else to comfort you today, Doctor-san."_

_Chopper stared at her uncomprehendingly. "Why?" he asked, turning to see what it was Robin was gazing at but seeing nothing._

_He looked back to catch her eyes fluttering closed, jaw locked tightly as a brief expression of pain hushed over her face, and dread filled his stomach with lead._

_"I merely think-" Her voice rose on the last word and she broke off, clenching her jaw to prevent whatever it was she wanted to say from leaving her tongue._

_Despite the bright afternoon sun and warm breeze Chopper felt suddenly very cold._

_"Is something wrong?"_

_Uncomfortable silence descended between them, and Chopper hadn't realised just how tense Robin had been until she took a deep breath and relaxed, the action palpable from his position. He started to feel sick, shivers running through his small body._

_She finally turned her head, but instead of looking at him her eyes stared unseeingly down at him._

_"Of course not." Her arms came up around him, but the embrace lacked the usual feelings of warmth and comfort. Instead it felt stiff, forced, and tears burned at the back of Chopper's eyes again._

_Robin smiled and asked him what had upset him, but the smile was all wrong and her voice sounded strange to his ears. Something was wrong, and Chopper felt sick._

_He told her anyway._

_"Sanji, he, he was cooking, and I just had to think about L-Luffy, and I started crying, and..." And the tears fell again as he forgot Robin's strange behaviour in favour of the grief that threatened to suffocate him. If only Luffy wasn't dead, and Brook hadn't left them! None of this would have happened if the two of them were here! "Sanji went mad, saying mean things and calling me childish and a crybaby!"_

_Chopper expected Robin to comfort and tell him that Sanji didn't mean the things he had said. But instead of reassuring him, Robin tensed once more and made a non-committal sound low in her throat._

_"He was being mean, right?"_

_"You are fifteen, Chopper," Robin sighed, and his eyes widened at the uncharacteristic use of his name. "You wouldn't cope with... with our sudden loss quite the same way-"_

_"Are you saying I'm a child?" Chopper cried indignantly. He wasn't, he was a pirate, a member of the Strawhats who had had many dangerous adventures and had defeated countless enemies! He was a brave man - Luffy had said so!_

_Robin looked down at him, and there was something in her eyes that made Chopper jump up angrily, staring at her and feeling ridiculed and alone, abandoned by her, by Sanji, by everyone but most of all feeling betrayed by Luffy._

_"I am not a child!"_

_Robin sat up straight in her chair in response to his accusative tone, taking deep, measured breaths before answering, angering Chopper even more. "You have come to me, or to other members of the crew nearly daily to cry, and that for the last couple of weeks. You expect us to comfort you, to make the pain of losing Luffy go away, but Chopper, what you seem to fail to realise – or just plain choose to ignore – is that we are grieving, too. You are not the only one in mourning!"_

_He stared at her as she talked, rage bubbling inside of him as he listened, her words hitting him hard. He focused on the indignation, the humiliation of being treated and talked to like a child to squelch the little voice in the back of his mind that whispered that she was right._

_Filled with anger, a new emotion welled up inside of him, and for the first time since he had known Robin, the first time since Vivi and Alabasta, since Crocodile and Miss All Sunday, for the first time since Little Garden, he** hated** her._

-0-0-0-

"How's it going?"

The lieutenant stood at attention. "No change, sir!"

"Good," Jager said, stepping closer to the cage. "Don't let your guard down. This is a cursed woman..."

"Yes, sir!"

Jager looked down at the slumped woman. He took in her limp form, her scratched and bleeding body, her torn clothes and greasy hair. He stared at her and tried to pity her, to feel compassion for this once beautiful woman and regret the death that awaited her once they reached their destination.

But no. Not for her. Not for this demon.

"Be sure to check those seastone shackles. Make sure they're _tight_."

With her death, the cursed legacy of Ohara would finally come to an end.

-0-

_Her heart raced in her chest as Robin stared at Chopper - at her** friend**-, and she instantly regretted her harsh words._

_"Chopper, I'm sorry," she said, looking away from him. "I shouldn't have said those things." Something inside of her twisted at the apology, because as hurtful as it was she was **right**._

_How often had she or one of the others been forced to push back their own grieving in order to console the little reindeer? Hadn't they all found a way to deal with their feelings of loss - Sanji through cooking, Zoro through training, herself by losing herself in the fantasy filled world of books -, everyone but Chopper? And weren't they all forced to-_

_"How dare you?"_

_Robin jerked her head up to meet Chopper's gaze at the hissed words, but what she saw there made her flinch back._

_It was a look she knew well, had seen all her life ever since Ohara had been destroyed. But never before had her nakama looked at her like that, never with such hatred. Involuntarily she hugged herself, hunching her shoulders and curling into herself, trying to block the cold and the memories of those dark and lonely years._

_"How dare you," Chopper repeated, the rage in his voice as plain as the hatred in his eyes, "how dare you talk to me like that when it's all YOUR FAULT!"_

_She froze, the screamed last word resounding in her mind, the implications clear. But underneath the cold and numbness a new feeling took root, an emotion she had never dared to acknowledge before she found her nakama._

_White-hot it raced through her, chasing away the cold, and she repeated his words, calmly, measured. "My fault?"_

_"Yes!" Chopper spat, and a small part of her realized that he tried to hurt her because she hurt him. He was merely defending himself._

_She knew all about defending oneself._

_"You are a** demon** child, alright! Spandam was right! Wherever you go, death and destruction follow! Not even Luffy was safe from your curse! **It's all your fault**!"_

_Someone gasped in shock, but Robin was confident that it hadn't been her. The spreading blaze inside of her demanded that she strike back, to lash out at Chopper and make him regret his words._

_But she didn't._

_Instead she got up, turned around, and calmly walked away. Someone called after her (Nami? The voice was too high to be Zoro or Sanji, too desperate to be Franky and too understanding to be Usopp. And Brook was gone and Luffy dead), but she ignored them._

_Running from a ship was hard to do, she knew from experience._

_It had never stopped her._

-0-0-0-

"This is a time of celebration, Kohza, you can't expect the labourers to work!" Vivi laughed at her friend's proposal.

"In that case the fountain won't be finished by the end of the festivities," Kohza replied sourly as he followed her into the dining hall. They both greeted her father, already sitting at the breakfast table. The newspaper was discarded on the table.

"What won't be finished?" Cobra asked, smiling at Vivi as she seated herself next to him, nodding at Kohza who took the seat on his other side.

"The fountain," Vivi explained as she reached across the table. "Kohza wants to let the labourers continue their work during the first week of-" Kohza slammed his hand down on hers, startling her badly.

Her fingers were a hair's breadth away from the newspaper.

"Vivi..."

She looked away, her fingers curling into a fist beneath her friend's warm hand. "I just want to read the paper," she said, but her voice sounded unconvincing even to her own ears. She bit her lip.

"Vivi, look at me."

Reluctantly, Vivi raised her eyes to meet her father's concerned gaze, a knot forming in her stomach at how old he suddenly looked. Kohza coaxed her fist to loosen and threaded their fingers together.

"It's been months, Vivi. It might be time to accept-"

"No!", she cried, clenching Kohza's hand. "It's not..! You don't understand, I _travelled_ with them! It's not possible...! It's just not possible," she whispered, the fight having left her as tears threatened to spill.

Luffy couldn't be dead.

"The bounty on his head has been annulled. The government seems sure that he is dead."

Vivi shook her head. "It's a trick," she argued weakly. It had to be. She stared at the newspaper. She would find it, she knew. Proof that what the government said was false, that they were mistaken. If she just kept looking...

"Vivi," her father sighed, "this can't go on. You are-" He broke off as the doors were suddenly thrown open. "Igaram, what...?"

Igaram panted heavily. "Forgive me, Your Majesty, but... Princess Vivi, you have to come!"

"What?" Vivi looked to her father for directions in confusion.

"Just... Please come with me!" Igaram said, grabbing her by her free hand and dragging her with him.

"Igaram, what are you doing? Have you lost your mind?"

"I apologise for my rude behaviour, but I had to fetch Princess Vivi as soon as I recognized him!"

"Recognize who? Igaram!" Her father waved away the guards that confusedly tried to join them in annoyance, grabbing Kohza's shoulder as he missed a step on the stairs. "Where are we going?"

"The gardens. I told him to wait there."

"Who is there? Igaram, you're hurting me!" Igaram loosened his grip in response and send her an apologetic look but didn't let go of her wrist.

"Someone who will put an end to your suffering!"

"An end to my...? Igaram, who is there?", she cried in confusion. Then a thought came to her, and her heart started beating faster with hope. "Igaram, is it... Is it Luffy?"

Her friend stopped abruptly, making her lose her footing. "No," he said, gazing at her with sympathy. "But close enough." He let go of her wrist and lead the last few steps to the gardens solemnly.

Vivi squinted against the glare of the morning sun, shielding her eyes with her hand to make out the form of the visitor. Her heart skipped a beat as he turned around. She would recognize that profile everywhere.

"Usopp!" she cried, running towards her friend. Usopp caught her in a hug, holding her tight and whispering her name. The tension in her shoulders loosened for the first time since she read the article claiming Luffy's death and she laughed with pure joy and relief. Usopp was here, which meant that the others were close and then she could see for herself that Luffy was alright.

Everything would be alright, now.

She held him at arm length to look him in the eye, both of them grinning madly. "When did you arrive? Why are you here? Where's Luffy? And where are the others? Are they close by? Will they come, too, or should we go to them? How's Luffy?" The words were tumbling out of her mouth in a rush, but she didn't care. She was too happy.

Usopp, however, stopped smiling, a haunted look appearing in his eyes. Vivi frowned at his expression.

"I need your help, Vivi."

She took a step back at his tone, the tension returning. She bumped into Kohza, who put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Of course, what do you need?"

"A ship. I need to get to Little Garden." He was first to look away.

"Little Garden? Why would you need to go there? Where's the rest of the crew? Usopp, _where is Luffy_?"

-0-

_"Just shut up already!"_

_Usopp stopped in his recounting of the grand adventures of the Great Captain Usopp and his faithful nakama to stare at an enraged Nami._

_"Shut up! I'm sick of your stupid stories! You're not some kind of great warrior! This isn't one of your stupid fairy tales, Luffy and Robin and Brook and, and Chopper, they're not waiting on some island until you swoop in and save them, they're gone!"_

_Usopp shook his head in denial, stumbling back as Nami continued to scream at him. What she said, it wasn't true. He was a warrior of the sea, and during his adventures he would reunite with his lost friends, with Robin and Brook and Chopper and-_

_"Stop living in your fantasy world already! This is the real world! You're nothing but a coward who hides behind his lies and fantasies!"_

_No._

_"Nami-swan, please, calm down! You are just upset-"_

_"Don't tell me to calm down! You know it's true! You think it too!"_

_No, he wasn't. It wasn't true. She was wrong. He'd show her._

_"Well, yes, I mean, n-"_

_He'd show them all._

-0-0-0-

The smell of burning wood and paper met Nojiko as she made her way up the hill, the cracking logs guiding her in the otherwise silent night.

She stopped a few feet away from her mother's grave, a few feet from her hurting sister, where the heat of the fire was blocked by Nami's body. Nojiko hugged herself as the wind picked up for a moment, carrying the cold air of the ocean and the smell of the fire.

In front of her Nami neatly unfolded a piece of paper, carefully smoothing it out and caressing its edges.

The sound of ripping paper made her flinch, and Nojiko had to avert her eyes from her sister's back.

She felt helpless and cold, and for a moment anger burned in her stomach as she wished that Nami had never joined Strawhat Luffy.

Another gust of wind blew the rage away, gone as fast as it appeared. She was left feeling spent and helpless. Feelings she knew like the back of her hand.

"So she's at it again."

Nojiko started at the gruff voice, turning around to frown at Genzo.

"Ginji's going to stop selling her ink and paper. He's worried about her." He sighed. "We all are. This can't be healthy."

Her nails dug painfully into her skin. "She's grieving," Nojiko replied, dread and helplessness laying heavy in her stomach, making her sick.

"I know."

"She needs time."

"It's been months since she's come home."

And all Nami had done in those months had been drawing maps. Lovingly, beautifully detailed maps that she would draw during the day, a sense of peace and serenity around her that frightened Nojiko, only to come here at night and burn them, scattering the ashes into the wind.

"This can't be healthy," Genzo said again, and Nojiko's fingernails left painful little impressions on her arms as she turned back to stare at her sister's huddled form.

You don't know what you're talking about, she thought spitefully, because he didn't.

He didn't see Nami's bright smile, didn't listen to her recounting of grand adventures, didn't hear her happy laughter – the sound of a quill scratching over parchment a constant background noise, the smell of ink never leaving the small cottage.

He didn't look into her dead eyes.

And Nojiko was scared, so scared. Because try as she might, she was helpless in the face of the compulsion of ink and paper, powerless against the allure of Bellemere's grave.

And in her worst nightmares she had come to accept that this hill had become her sister's grave as well.

-0-

_Another crash, another yell and insults hurling through the air._

_Alone in her workroom, surrounded by parchment old and new, Nami gripped her hair tightly, forehead resting in a disgusting puddle of tears and snot and ink._

_"Stop it," she whispered, a sob half-swallowing the words. "Just stop it, **please**."_

_Voices yelling and the sound of hydraulics releasing, another crash, another bang, and with a too high-pitched laugh Nami wondered why Franky even bothered when it was only a matter of time until they started lashing out at each other again._

_But wondering was dangerous, because it led to wondering about other things, such as:_

_Would it be different if the others hadn't left? Why did they go? Was it her fault?_

_("Usopp, please, I beg you come back! I didn't mean to, I never meant it, oh please! Usopp! It's all my fault! Oh god, please come back...!")_

_Wondering meant asking herself, Should she leave, too?_

_(Screaming outside, louder and more vicious than before, and not even the thick door kept out the hurtful slurs.)_

_And worse:_

_Why should she stay?_

-0-0-0-

The clash of their swords drowned in the roaring thunder, and even as Tashigi managed to push Rorona back she knew that she wouldn't win this fight.

Couldn't win, because the man facing her now truly was the Pirate Hunter, the fearsome demon that she had believed herself to chase all the way to the Grand Line.

Somewhere – in the back of her mind that wasn't busy dodging three swords at once, that wasn't frantically thinking of ways to stay alive, of how to win the upper hand in an already lost fight – she recognized the irony of wishing for the old Rorona Zoro to return. She had joined Smoker on his hunt for Strawhat Luffy with the sole purpose of hunting Rorona Zoro, believing him to be a ruthless criminal not worthy of the legendary swords he carried.

But now as she had managed to track him down, following the bloody trail of sick justice he left across the most lawless of islands to plague the Grand Line - a just dessert that left those convicted in a state of pain and humiliation that it would have been kinder had he just killed them - she finally understood that the man she had chased since Logue Town hadn't been a monster.

The man before her now, though; he was.

"Stop me," he had murmured when she had confronted him, and for that one moment he had been human again.

She wished she could hate him, that her righteous sense of justice and her love for the law would give her the fervour needed to win this battle, but the truth was she pitied him. Headquarters had celebrated the news of Strawhat Luffy's death and the execution of Nico Robin, and even though she couldn't find joy in their deaths Tashigi still felt relief and satisfaction that their era's were over.

But as she stared into Rorona's dead eyes she felt a pang of regret. She wished things had gone differently, that Strawhat hadn't died and that Rorona Zoro hadn't become the ruthless demon she had believed him to be.

Tashigi blocked his next attack, but the force of the blow sent her staggering backwards as he raised his other sword to strike again. She set to twist her body around, using her momentum to dodge the blow but her feet slipped on the rain soaked ground and she fell, and in a desperate attempt to keep Rorona away long enough to regain her footing she jerked her sword up.

And was met by a brief resistance.

And then-

Warmth engulfed her hands, ran down her arms.

She stared in horror, the sword in her suddenly lax hands dropping, the body slipping down the blade and hitting the ground with a sick splash.

"No," she fell to her knees beside him, "no no no no no no no no_ no_."

The wound was close to the heart – not close enough to kill instantly, but. Too close. Impossibly close, and this couldn't be happening, he couldn't be lying here, bleeding, because the angle had been all _wrong_.

There had been no strength behind her strike, it would have been easily deflected and even if not, the angle was_ wrong_, it would have never hit this _close_, he would have had to twist around and-

And he had.

He had turned.

Into the path of her sword.

She choked, bile burning her throat and mouth as she heaved, as she threw up, blood and rain pooling around them.

"I'm sorry..."

She stared at him, panting, gasping for breath. Stared into his eyes – not yet gone, but not quite_ there_ - stared and she could see it, see him turning, saw the sword - _her_sword – pierce his chest and her burning throat was nothing compared to the scorching heat behind her eyes.

"I'm sorry," he repeated, slowly, painfully, and she heard the blood flooding his lungs with every shallow pant. "Couldn't keep my promise. Failed you. Failed..." he frowned, and broke off. She just sat there, staring at him, trying to make sense of something, anything, but- "Couldn't fulfill your dream..."

He looked at her, but not at _her_, and his gaze was full of regret and it scared her enough to break through the numb chaos in her mind. _Who are you looking at?_, she wanted to ask, to yell, to scream and to cry,_ Look at me!_ but.

He wasn't looking anymore.

-0-

_"I said no!"_

_"I. DON'T. CARE!"_

_"Come on, guys, don't fight-"_

_"Keep out of this, Franky!"_

_"We have to anchor at this island! We need to restock our food! Are you as dense as your crappy swords?"_

_"No! What part of that is too hard to understand, you stupid cook? That place is crawling with Marines, damn it!"_

_"Our food supplies are nearly gone! What part of that is too hard to understand?"_

_"I said no!"_

_"You're not the boss of me, marimo-head!"_

_"I'm the senior crew member!"_

_"Senior crew member? Don't make me laugh! WHAT CREW? There's no one here except the three of us!"_

_"Guys, let's talk about this-"_

_"If you're in the one in charge here, why did you let everyone go?"_

_"Shut up, you useless cook!"_

_"Why didn't you hold them back, huh? Why didn't you do anything? Why did you just stand there and watch as the crew fell apart? WHY DIDN'T YOU DO ANYTHING!"_

_"SHUT UP!"_

-0-0-0-

It wasn't right, Terry thought for the umpteenth time. The crude cheers of the crowd drowned out his sigh. The kid should be out on the seas, chasing his dreams.

"Gyhahaha! That's it, Black Leg, show that arrogant tosser! Kill him, kill him! Gyahahaha!"

Terry still remembered the kid's former crew mates. They had been full of dreams when they had come to his pub, hadn't they? Looking for an island in the sky in a town that fully embraced the era of crushed dreams.

Though he supposed there was a certain symmetry to the whole tragedy. Years ago, Strawhat Luffy and his friends had been laughed at and beaten up for holding on to their dreams. Now, the Strawhat's former cook beat up anyone who dared to laugh at the dreams of others.

"I'm so'y... I won' do it again... Please..."

Still, it just wasn't right. The kid should be out there, sailing the seas, not being stuck in a town full of backstabbing scum.

"Gyahahaha, did ya see that? The blood's shootin' outta the captain's nose! Gyahahaha!"

-0-

_"Oi, oi! What are you doing with all that stuff?"_

_"What does it look like? I'm leaving, Franky."_

_"Leaving? Come on, I know things aren't exactly super right now-"_

_"Super? Franky, everyone but us is **gone**. And now I'm going, too."_

_"You can't- Hey! You can't do that! You can't just leave!"_

_"Why the hell not? Let me go!"_

_"We're the Strawhat Pirates!"_

_"Really? Look around you, Franky. The Strawhat Pirates are finished."_

-0-0-0-

Two years and four months after the death of Strawhat Luffy, on an island near the water capital Water 7 the body of the terrorist and confirmed member of the Strawhat Pirates Cyborg Franky was found.

Three days later, scavengers discovered the burnt remains of the pirate ship Thousand Sunny on the ground of the Grand Line.

Thus ended the era of the Strawhat Pirates.


End file.
